Author: Stephen Ryan
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Chimonanthus praecox
I know that this isn’t the rarest thing around but of all the scented plants I know Winter sweet has to be my favourite. Forget your Daphnes and Jasmines I would take this plant above all others for perfume and it is tough as they come as well. It is a large deciduous shrub from
Stephen Ryan
Vitis vinifera ‘Purpurea’
This stunning ornamental Grape is rarely offered in Australia and I find it hard to understand why. It is far less rampant that the classical one and its leaves start to turn burgundy as soon as they get to full size so that right throughout late spring summer and autumn you get burgungy foliage which
Stephen Ryan
Aesculus indica
Looking for a largish spreading shade tree that not everyone has planted? Well this could be the tree you are looking for. It comes from the Himalaya region and will eventually become a tree to 30metres although you and I aren’t going to see that! Its large palmate leaves are coppery tinged in the spring
Stephen Ryan
Ceratostigma griffithii
Blue flowers (and I mean really blue flowers!) are few and far between and lots of nursery people call anything blue that could be lavender, mauve or purple as they know it will sell things. Look at all those things being called “Blue Roses” for instance. In late summer and autumn a small deciduous shrub
Stephen Ryan
Hypericum uralum
The Genus has a wide distribution and comes from a huge range of habitats so it is only to be expected that diverse forms have evolved from annuals to alpines, ground covers to moderately large shrubs. Some have become weedy and others are used in herbal medicine. What is strange is that this Genus consists
Stephen Ryan
Nerine pudica
This small South African autumn flowering bulb is apparently rare in the wild and yet I find it a good doer that multiplies well for me at the nursery. It is in flower in April each year and grows about 25cms. tall with white flowers striped pink on the outside of the petals. It seems
Stephen Ryan
Euonymus alatus
Now that autumn is here we (at least in the cooler areas) should be revelling in the autumn coloured foliage, but have you noticed that so many of the best known plants of this season tend to be large trees and wouldn’t it be nice to have some of this largess at a lower level.
Stephen Ryan
Stephen Ryan
Calycanthus chinensis
What a great newish plant to western horticulture. First described as a new Genus Sinocalycanthus but since sunk into the Genus with its North American relative and suddenly we have a first ranking garden shrub. It will grow to about 3metres, is deciduous with large handsome glossy bright green leaves that turn yellow in autumn.
Stephen Ryan
Craibiodendron yunnanensis
Sick of Rhododendrons and azaleas? Looking for something for summer interest with an elegant habit to take the place of these obvious and often lumpy shrubs or even an elegant specimen for a tub in a semi-shaded aspect then you could do far worse than the extremely rare Craibiodendron from China. It can eventually grow
Stephen Ryan